Head Secrets
by Fangirlofrandomness
Summary: James has a secret, and it's bothering Lily a lot. Will she find out what it is? Add that to some midnight talks and almost-arguments, and you get Fangirlofrandomness's next story!


(A/N: Just a little random idea that popped into my head. Enjoy!)

"I know a secret, I know a secret!"

Ever since the first time Lily Evans had heard these words, she had loathed them. She was an insanely curious girl (she preferred the term detective-minded), and it bothered her deeply that there was something she didn't know. Lily didn't really like gossip and other vapid activities, but she couldn't help that nosy streak in her that reacted so strongly to those sing-song words.

So when she'd heard those hated words a million times over in the space of six hours, she was not in a good mood. And worse yet, they were being sung by James Potter, the star of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the Head Boy, and Lily's loathed enemy.

At least, he used to be her enemy. For a few weeks, they had actually been getting along, and Lily even found herself smiling at his jokes during patrol duty sometimes. She had honestly thought James had matured at last. But then he began singing "I have a secret" over and over again, like some stupid, immature five-year-old.

"Hey, Evans?" James's voice came in a whisper in her ear, the cool rush of air raising goosebumps on her skin. Lily shook her head, irritated, and turned her head to look at him.

"What, Potter?" They had been on first-name terms, but she decidedly felt too annoyed to be all friendly with Mr. I-Know-Something-That-You-Don't-Know.

"I have a secret, I have a secret!" James sang out loud, right in her ear, a childish grin of satisfaction settling over his face.

Lily jumped up as though she had been electrified. She turned around, her green eyes snapping with anger.

"Well, you know what, Potter? SO DO I!" she yelled, without knowing what she really was saying. She didn't have any secrets…well, none that she would care to inform Mr. James Bloody Potter about.

James stared at her, his hazel eyes going round with shock. He had teased her much more before, and she hadn't gotten nearly as mad. It was unusual, even for her, to be this touchy.

The two of them both avoided each other for the rest of the day.

It was very, very late at night, and yet, Lily could not go to sleep. That in itself was uncommon for her; she went to sleep punctually so she could wake up on time in the morning. But that night, she simply couldn't sleep. The taunts of "I have a secret, I have a secret!" were still ringing in her ears.

After many minutes of tossing and turning restlessly (and cursing James Potter quite a bit), she gave up the attempt and decided that while she was awake, she might as well get up and read something. But even that wasn't working! Instead of getting immersed in the immortal tale of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, she found herself wondering – actually wondering – what James Potter's secret was.

She groaned out loud. Perfect. She was actually curious about what Potter's secret was, and what's more, she was probably not going to be able to sleep until she found out. And of course, if she woke up Potter and asked, he would forever be teasing her about how she had wanted to know his secret.

Lily stubbornly tried going to sleep again, but counting hippogriffs, stars and wands all didn't work. At this rate, she would never get some sleep, would never wake up in time, and would definitely ruin her perfect attendance record!

Crossly, she trudged out of her room into the common room shared by the Head Boy and Head Girl. As she stepped onto the landing, she instantly knew something was up. She couldn't hear James's (slightly snory) breathing, as she usually could. Which could only mean one thing… there was some prank afoot.

Grimly, she settled down onto the sofa and opened the book again. She would wait up, and when he came, she was going to give him the talking-to that he would never forget! This was probably the secret he'd been yelling about all day. He obviously didn't have much sense - anyone wanting to keep a secret shouldn't be broadcasting the fact that he had a secret all over the place.

Just when Lily's eyelids had gotten heavy with sleep, the entrance door opened, and a messy-haired figure crept cautiously into the room, stopping short with a guilty look in his eyes when he spotted Lily.

Lily threw down the book, and folded her arms across her thin nightgown, tapping her foot with a dangerous look in her eyes.

There was a long silence. Finally, James broke it. "Look, before you launch into one of your tirades and give me a 'talking-to' I never forget, let me just apologize for today. I…it's complicated."

Lily blinked, some of the danger in her eyes replaced by surprise. This wasn't exactly the opening she'd been expecting. And he'd used her phrase! That wasn't fair! But, Lily-like, she rose to the bait, and asked, "Oh, really? Why is it so complicated, huh? More secrets?"

The sarcastic quotation marks in her voice were impossible to miss, and James noticed them as well. "Yes, as a matter of fact," he shot back.

Rolling her eyes, Lily said, "You know, so many things in this world would be so much easier, so simple, if people had never discovered the concept of a 'secret'."

"First of all, Evans, concepts are invented, not discovered," James told her. A spark of annoyance ignited as she visibly fumed over his attempt to correct her. "And secondly," James continued, oblivious to the danger signs, "You're one to talk! What about your own secret?"

At first, Lily couldn't help being a little confused. What was he talking about? Then she realized that he was talking about that afternoon, and what she had yelled at him, and her face heated up, blushing in a way only redheads can.

James couldn't help feeling amused at the sight of a sheepish Evans colouring up. He strode over to his room, but then paused. "And what exactly are you doing awake at two in the morning, Evans?"

"I – I was – I couldn't sleep!" Lily spluttered. How did he always know which questions to ask to make her feel uncomfortable? And besides, she had told the truth, just not all of the truth.

James raised an eyebrow. "Ah. You couldn't sleep." The skepticism was crystal clear in his voice, and Lily rose to the challenge as always.

"Yes, is that so hard to believe, Potter?" She spat his surname at him like it was poison.

"Considering the fact that you are always sound asleep by eleven o'clock sharp, and that you have never ever even stirred when I snuck out every other time, yes, it is quite hard to believe." James was tensed up, waiting for the huge fight crackling in the air.

Lily huffed in shock. How did he know so much about her? Quickly, she grasped for the first words to come to mind. "You've done this before? Potter, do you know what would happen if you were caught? You're the _HEAD BOY_!"

"Only because you're the Head Girl." James interrupted her. "And don't try to change the subject, Evans. Why are you up? Is something bothering you?"

Was that _concern_ in his tone?

At his words, Lily just felt all the anger whooshing out of her, and with a frustrated sigh, she fell back against the couch. "Yes, Potter, something is bothering me. I can't sleep because I'm being _tortured by the thoughts of your SECRET_!"

There was a loud silence in the next moment, the kind that seemed to press in against your eardrums. Then, a gentle chuckle penetrated the air.

Lily opened her eyes wide in disbelief. She told James the most embarrassing thing in her life (well, not really, but Lily was feeling melodramatic) and he LAUGHED?

"May I know what's so funny?" she asked, her tone reminding James of frozen steel. He shook her head, and with an effort, suppressed the chuckles.

"You. Wanting to know my secret."

Shame rushed through Lily again. He did think she was ridiculous! And the next day the whole school would know about it.

"You know my secret already, Lily." She jerked at the sound of her name. He never really ever called her by her birth name. Not even when he kept asking her out, or even when they were friends. She sometimes jokingly wondered whether he even knew her first name.

Confused, Lily raised her head. "What do you mean?"

James came to sit by her. "Let me explain. Last night, Sirius and Remus decided to sneak an Immaturity Potion into my pumpkin juice. So, for the past day, I have been acting extremely childlike, as you noticed. The idiots thought I was too serious, and I needed lightening up." He shook his head remorsefully. "One day, and it undid all the progress I'd made with you over the past year."

Realization dawned on Lily as he spoke. So he wasn't really that immature! It was Sirius and Remus. "Remus gave you an Immaturity Potion?" she asked.

James grinned. "Well, it was mostly Sirius. He…_persuaded_ Remus to go along."

Lily found herself smiling in response to his grin. He did look rather handsome when he was grinning at her like that, as if they were great friends, not as if she was another conquest. But then, what was all that about making progress with her?

"What did you mean, make progress with me?" Lily asked, a tiny frown creasing her freckled forehead.

His forehead creased in confusion in reply. "Didn't you notice? For the past year, I've been trying so hard to grow up a bit, so you'd stop calling me immature and at least be my friend. And we were almost on first-name basis, and then the two idiots messed things up."

"Oh." The room seemed to be getting a little blurry, as Lily gazed only at James's face. "So there was no secret?" Lily squeezed out.

"Well, there was, sort of. But you kind of know it already. It's just –" James sighed, and tried phrasing the sentence again. Lily, watching him, suddenly thought how sweet he looked, trying to tell her his secret.

"Okay – here's the secret." James took a deep breath, and steadied himself. "I like you, Lily. I like you a lot. In fact, I would probably say I loved you, but you might feel alarmed."

Lily's eyes flew wide open. "What?" she asked uncomprehendingly.

James sighed, then got up to put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her and gazing directly into her eyes. Hazel boring into green. "I. Like. You. That's my secret. And what's more, you know I like you."

Lily finally found her tongue under his accusing glare. "I - I knew you were infatuated with me, sure, but - but you're actually serious about liking me? I thought you - you just wanted another conquest or something! I never thought you actually meant any of it!"

James rolled his eyes, his lips pressing together in annoyance. "Why do you think that? How many girls have I even dated? How many have I kissed? Just because I'm Padfoot's best friend, doesn't mean I have to want every single girl in school. I haven't been able to think about any other girl besides you since fourth year."

There was a silence as Lily absorbed this new information. The tension in the air had evaporated, and Lily felt strangely...happy. Light. Calm. Like a cloud. What a strange feeling. And just because James Potter said he liked her?

"So…" James was looking at her significantly.

"Huh?" Lily, torn out of her musing, was confused yet again.

"It's your turn," James told her. Seeing her confused look, he explained. "I told you my secret. Now you have to tell me yours."

Lily immediately blushed, fidgeting uncomfortably. "What are we, eight, Potter?" she snorted weakly, trying and failing to distract him.

"Come on, Lily, you know you want to tell me." His voice had turned all velvety and persuasive. It _was_ hard to resist.

Now, there were a few possible things Lily Evans could have done. She could have protested, saying she kind of knew his secret already, so it wouldn't be fair. She could have explained the whole situation to him. But she had an idea…

"My secret?" Lily asked, smiling mysteriously at James. "Well, I think you already know."

But before James could even try to guess or protest or anything, Lily leaned closer, put her arms around his neck, and for the first time ever, she kissed a boy on the lips. And not just any boy, but the right boy.

Maybe James hadn't known Lily's secret, but if this was the case, let it be known here that Lily's actions cleared away any doubts.

And so, Hogwarts's legendary couple began.

(A/N: If any of you are interested, the next day was the first time in Hogwarts history that Lily Evans was late to class, breaking her perfect attendance record. But she didn't mind, and neither did a certain messy-haired Head Boy. If you liked it, the button is right down there. If you didn't, the button is right down there too!)


End file.
